Thefc100: playing the transfer market…

As reported today, Jose Mourinho has admitted he would like to sign Benni McCarthy but Blackburn have hung a big ‘no sale’ sign around his neck. Mourinho has also admitted, very generously, that he’s pretty sure McCarthy wants to join him at Chelsea. Ah there’s nothing like a bit of player unrest to force a transfer through. Mark Hughes will probably be looking at a transfer request sometime soon if McCarthy thinks Mourinho has the money to sign him. The reported £5million on offer is a bit too cheeky in our opinion. Fair enough he was a bargain at £2.5 last season but that offer will need to be considerably increased for Blackburn to take it seriously.

West Ham say they will sue if Sheffield United are re-instated into the Premiership when the results of the arbitration panel come in. Is there a happy ending here? We think not. It will end with Sheffield United’s relegation being upheld and West Ham getting extremely lucky to still be in the Premiership. The difference between Premiership and Championship level has never meant more with the ludicrous amount of t.v. money floating around this season, so we feel sorry for the Blades, however they did have Neil Warnock as their manager so you play with matches……

Daily Mirror

Jimmy Bullard will undergo an intensive two week course in America in a bid to be fit for the new season. And so say all of us. One of our favourite players on the fc100, we wish Jimmy all the best and demand that you all take a look at these clips so you’ll be equally enamoured…

Bolton are demanding £6million for Jussi Jaaskelainen whose contract expires at the end of the season but who has also refused any contract offers from Bolton thus far. Having spent 9 years at the club since he signed for just £100,000, we feel this is a little much. There’s no denying that the Finn is one of the best keepers around, we’ve been saying it since the rumours started appearing, but this price will dissuade certain suitors, including, no doubt, Sunderland, who probably can’t afford £6million for Jussi when they are chasing Nugent for around £7million at the same time. Manchester United are the latest club to register an interest, with Edwin van Der Saar ageing and having made lots of mistakes towards the tail-end of last season. With Ben Foster seemingly injured for the start of the season, Ferguson may be prepared to go for broke and bring in a top keeper, possibly letting van Der Saar go. However, the most likely option here is the third suitor, Aston Villa, who have money to burn and are in the market for a keeper. However, thefc100 also believes that an agreement may still be reached with Bolton or the Finn may see out the final year of his contract. Don’t ten year terms normally warrant a testimonial…..?

Daily Express

New Juventus boss Claudio Ranieri is targeting Craig Bellamy from Liverpool for a fee of around £12million. (splutter). (wheeze). Sorry, now that we’ve stopped laughing we’ll discuss this like adults. This won’t happen, it’s simply another story from the English Press who love the idea of the ‘next Beckham’ plying his trade abroad (e.g Bellamy; British and rarely out of the papers, can’t you just see the editors drooling….?).

Sunderland are targeting Giuseppe Rossi from Man Utd and Geremi from Chelsea. Agreed, they would both be good signings for Sunderland, however the Rossi link may be because of everyone Irish or playing for Man Utd being linked to Keane’s team, the Geremi one is the more likely, especially now Chelsea have Tal Ben Haim on board. However, whether Roy Keane would be interested in a player who has happily sat on the bench for the majority of the past few seasons is another matter. Wages would also be pretty big, a transfer fee would be minimal though, watch this space…..

Daily Record

AC Milan winger Massimo Donati will fly into Glasgow this week for talks with Celtic boss Gordon Strachan. Always tricky buying wingers from European countries. Donati has failed to make an impression in Milan and the £3million rated winger has genuinely expressed an interest in playing Champions League football with Celtic. Whether he’d be up to the physical nature of the Scottish game remains to be seen, however the success of Shunsuke Nakamura can be held as a beacon for all incoming ‘flair’ players. The Japanese was a revelation in the Scottish Premier League last season despite his frail physique, and Strachan will no doubt convince Donati that he can be the next Celtic fans’ hero……